Door operating mechanism for railway cars



5 Sheets-Sheet l F. F. ADLER DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS Dec. 8, 1964 Filed Feb. 5, 1962 #ETH Dec. 8, 1964 3,160,198

F. P. ADLER DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Feb. 5, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 HHM' 1 L* A @kl- Q AllllffI Dec. 8, 1964 F. P. ADLER DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Feb. 5, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Dec. 8, 1964 F. P. ADLER 3,160,198

DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Feb. 5, 1962 v 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 I' MIM ifa/far/Zegs Dec. 8, 1964 F. P. ADLER 3,160,198

DOOR'OPERATING MECHANISMFOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Feb. 5, 1962 5 Sheel:'-1-Shee1'l 5 F1511 60 Q1-:15.13 y Z8 Unit States Patent O This invention relates to a door operating arrangement for railway cars or the like which are equipped with vertically sliding doors. The invention is particularly applicable to open side railway cars of the type shown in copending applications, Serial No. 129,937 filed August 2, 1961, and Serial No. 134,259 filed August 28, 1961, and in both of which the open side of the car is tted with three vertically sliding doors which occupy the full length of the car.

lt is an object of my invention to provide a door operating arrangement by means of which all of the doors on one side of the car can be opened and closed by a single hand wheel or other drive mechanism which is located at one end oi the car.

According to my invention, l provide a common operating shaft which extends for the full length of the car, together with a separate counterbalance spring arrangement for each door so that the operating shaft is not called upon to transmit a torque which corresponds to the full weight of all of the doors. ln other words, according to my invention, the operating shaft transmits only the relatively small amount of torque necessary to overcome the friction `of the operating mechanism plus a net operating torque of relatively small magnitude.

Another object of my invention is to provide an operating shaft which is mounted on a single member that extends for the full length of the car.

l have previously disclosed in connection with a somewhat different door arrangement, an operating shaft which extends for the full length of the car and which is journalled in the transcms of the car. However, in fabricating a steel structure, such as a freight car, fairly large tolerances must be permitted for the structural members with the result that it is not practical to preassemble the bushings in the transoms. ln the alternative, the transom plates can each be drilled separately after the car structure has been assembled, but it is a rather painstaking operation to align the holes because the location of each hole as it is being drilled is determined by its relationship to the previously drilled holes in other plates, rather than by its relationship to the edge of the particular plate being drilled. Although there are various ways of mitigating these diliculties, nevertheless, when the operating shaft passes through a number of transom plates, the problem of alignment is essentially a step by step adjustment of each successive bearing with the previously located bearings.

According to my invention, l provide a specially shaped side plate, and l locate the operating shaft externally of the side plate and above the doors, rather than running the operating shaft through the transoms or analogous ld Patented Dec. 8, 1964 ICC A further object of my invention is to provide an improved door operating arrangement in which the parts are readily accessible for replacement and repair.

Still another object is to provide door operating mechanism which is in the form of separate shaft assemblies arranged in end to end relationship. This arrangement reduces cost of manufacture and installation, and also facilitates replacement and repair.

A still further object is to arrange the parts in such a manner that the couplings between the separate shaft asemblies are not called upon to transmit heavy torques.

Other objects, features and advantages will become apparent as the description proceeds.

With reference now to the drawings in which like reference numerals designate like parts:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a railway car embodying my invention;

PEG. 2 is a plan View taken along line 2 2 of FIG. 1 showing the separate operating shaft assemblies;

FlG. 3 is an enlarged detailed View of one of the couplings shown in FIG. 2;

FlG. 4 is a vertical section taken along line 4 4 of FIG. 3;

FlG. 5 is a fragmentary end View of the car of FIG. 1, with certain overlying parts being broken away along lines 5 5 of FlG. 7 for purposes of illustration, and the cover plate removed;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of FIG. 5;

PEG. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of FIGS. 5 and 6, with a portion of the roof sheets and beam flange being broken away;

FIG. 8 is a vertical section taken along line 8 3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 8 showing the operating mechanism in greater detail;

FIG. 10 is a side elevation of FIG. 9, with a portion of the side plate and cover being broken away;

FlG. ll is a plan view of the spring anchor assembly;

FIG. 12 is a side elevation of the same;

FIG. 13 is a vertical section taken along line 13 13 of FIG. 2, and corresponding to a View taken along line 3 13 of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a vertical section taken along line 14-14 of FIG. 2 showing one of the end saddles; PEG. 15 is an enlarged section taken along line 1S of FIG. 7 showing the pier saddle; and

FIG. 16 is a detail showing the butt plate, being taken along line 16 of FIG. 1.

With reference now to FIGS. 1 and 8, the reference numeral 2li designates a car body which is supported on wheels Z1 by a suitable underframe structure which includes side sills Z2. The car body includes two car end structures each including two end piers 23 which are structurally connected to each other by a transverse an- Chor member in the form of an I-bearn 24, and by an end sill (not shown). Two top beams 25, one on each side, extend the full length of the car, from one anchor member 2li to the other. termediate transoms 26 are supported by the top beams 2S as shown in FlG. 8, as are end transoms 27 (FIG. 5). y

Spaced outwardly of the top beam 25 and supported by the transoms 25 and 27 is a specially shaped side plate 2S.

In the particular embodiment shown, each open side of the car is fitted with three vertically sliding doors 3@ which are slidably mounted inend posts 31 and interadsense mediate posts 3.2. Track sections 33 are mounted on the transoms 26 and 27 tol receive the vertically sliding doors 3d when they have been elevated into a horizontal position, these track sections being continuous with other track sections which are integrally formed in the door posts 3l and 32. The door post arrangement and its reationship to the car structure is more fully described in the aforesaid copending applications, to which reference is hereby made.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, there is a chain 34 located at each end of each door which is connected to the lower end of the door by a bracket 35, and to the upper end of the door by a pilot 36. The chain 34 passes over a sprocket 37 mounted on an operating shaft 3?). The 'arrangement is such that rotation of the sprocket 37 and shaft 38 by means of a hand wheel 39 willcause the doors to be elevated from the closed position shown in FIG. 1 to an open position, or vice versa. The intermediate door posts 32 may be mounted on a horizontally extending post track 4@ for longitudinally sliding movement so that the door posts can be slid to either end of the car after the doors have been elevated.

As shown in FIG. 2, the operating shaft 38 is made in three sections 38a, 3b, and 38C, which are connected to each other by keyed couplings 45 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Two counterweight springs 76B, 71; surround cach shaft section. Each shaft section is supported at three points by bearing sleeves 47, two of the bearing sleeves being mounted `in end saddles 4S, and one being mounted in a spring anchor 49. The elements 4S and 49 are mounted externally of the side plate 2S which is specially shaped for this purpose. g

The side plate 2S is bent along longitudinally extending lines to provide va cross sectional shape which is shown in FIG. 9. This shape includes a lower vertical wall portion 50, an inwardly oifset upper vertical wall portion 51, a horizontal shoulder portion 52 and a diagonally extending portion 53. The lower wall portion 56 is provided with an inwardly extending horizontal flange 54, and the upper wall portion S1 is provided with a horizontal ange 55 to which the roof sheets 56 may be secured. V

The spring anchor 49, as shown in FIGS. 11 to 13, is in the form of a bracket which comprises a base plate 60 which overliesy the shoulder and diagonal side plate portions 52 and 53. The base plate 6i) is removably secured to the side plate by bolts 61 which extend through holes 51a shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. vertically disposed an- :hor plates 62 are suitably secured to the base plate 6&3 so as to provide a bracket. The anchor plates 62. are perforated and short tubular members 63, which serve as spring guides, are suitably welded to the anchor plates 52 and extend outwardly therefrom in the longitudinal iirection. Each anchor plate 62 is provided with a slot 54 through which an end of the counterweight yspring 46 nay be hooked. The guides 63 maintain concentricity 3f the spring andthe shaft at the anchor point.

Disposed between the anchor plates 62 and parallel :hereto is a saddle plate 65 which is also welded to the nase plate 60. Thus, the parts 60, 62,'and 65 provide a mitary structure which is removably secured to the ;ide plate 28.

The bearing sleeve 47, also shown inl FIGS. 11 to 13, :omprises a ilanged sleeve member 366 in which has been )ressed a bushing 67, preferably of sintered bronze. The langes 68 straddle the saddle plate'65 so as to prevent ongitudinal movement of the bearing sleeve 47 with reapect to the saddle plate 65. A lock strip 69 is disposed )etween the retainer flanges 63, as shown in FIGS. 1'1 vo 13, which overlies and tends to engage the top edge'of he saddle plate 65 so as to lock the bearing sleeve 47 tgainst rotation with respect to the saddle plate 65.

ends of each shaft section and are received within the end saddles 48 in the same manner pointed out in connection withY the intermediate bearing sleeve and the saddle plate 65. Thus, each shaft section 38a, Sb, and 33C, is supported by the bearing sleeves 47 at three points, but the end bearing sleeves are removably received within the end saddles 48, whereas the spring anchor 49 and its saddle plate are associated with the particular shaft section to form a part of a separate shaft assembly.

As shown in FIG. 2, a left hand wound counterweight spring 70 and a right hand wound counterweight spring 7l are provided for each shaft section, these being located on opposite sides of the spring anchor 49. As shown in FIG. 10, the outer end of each counterweight spring is provided with a bent end 72 which is nonrotatably ai-lixed to a shaft section by means of a collar connector 73. The collar connector 73 is formed so as to interlock with the bent end of either a lefthand or iight hand wound counterweight spring, and it is provided with a short tubular spring guide (not shown) similar to the spring guides 63 to maintain concentricity. The .connector 73 is keyed to the shaft 38 by means of dog point set screws 74. TheV inner end of each spring is bent in a similar manner and engages the slot 64 in the anchor plates 62 of the spring anchor a9.

A feature of my invention is that each pair of counterweight springs 'iti-7i `is associated only with a particular shaft section and a particular door). Therefore, there is no substantial torque which is transmitted from one shaft section to the other. The elements 38h, 49, 70 and 71 provide a separate shaft assembly B which is removably secured to the side plate 26 by means of the bolts 61, and which is connected to the adjacent shaft assemblies A and C by means of the keyed couplings 45. This arrangement permits easy assembly of the door operating mechanism.

The means for rotating they operating shaft 38 are shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. The hand wheel 39 is mounted on a shaft 78 which is journalled in a suitable bracket 79. In the type of car shown herein, there is a space beyond the end wall 89 of the car and between the end pier 23. The chain and sprocket drive mechanism is located in this space. A jack shaft 8l is suitably journalled in a sleeve 32 which, as shown in FIG.. 7, extends through the Vweb of the anchor beam 24. One end of the sleeve is supported by said web, and the other end is supported by a channel S3 which extends vertically between the two flanges of the anchor beam 24. A small i sprocket 84 is mounted on the hand wheel shaft 78 and alarge sprocket 3S on the outer end of the jack shaft S1. A chain S6 connects the two. A small sprocket 87 is mounted on the inner end of the jack shaft 81 and a large sprocket Si; is mounted on the operating shaft 38, and a chain S9 connects they two, all as shown uin FIG. 5.

Thus, the operating shaft 38 may be driven at a reduced I the shaft is provided with a sleeve 47 which is supported As shown in FIGS. 2 `and 14 the end saddles 48 are in yhe form of plates which are secured to the side plate 28 1s by welding. Bearing sleeves 47 are mounted at the in a saddle 9@ which is mounted directly on the end pier 23, as shown in FIG. 15. The sprocket 83 is located between the pier saddle 96 and the end saddle 48. The end pier isprovided with a slot 91., shown in FIG. 6, through which the chain 89 extends.

After the three shaft assemblies have been mounted on the side plate, longitudinal movement ofthe shaft 38 is prevented by a butt plate 92 mounted on the remote end of the car, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 16, and by a retainer plate 93 which is located at the operating end, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. n

As kshown in FIG. 9, the side plate is provided with slots or openings 94 and 95 formed in the horizontal portion 52 and in the lower flange 54, respectively. The door chain 34 extends through these slots.

The geometry of the door chain arrangement is facilitated by the use of a pilot 36 which comprises spaced plates 96 which are linked to the upper door section 30 by a pin 97, the pilot including rollers 98, which cooperate with the track section 33. The door chain 34 is maintained in engagement with the sprocket 37 by means of a follower pulley 99 mounted on the side plate 28 by means of a suitable bracket 190, the side plate being slotted at this point. The upper end of the door chain 34 is trained around a pulley 161 mounted on the pilot 36, and a coil spring 1M; connects the end of the door chain 34 with the top door section 30. Thus the spring 102 maintains the door chain taut at all times, but the pilot arrangement permits the chain to accommodate itself to minor variations in length of chain path as the door moves from the down position shown in FIG. 9 upwardly and to the right along the track section 33.

The door operating mechanism is protected from damage by means of a removable cover plate 105, shown in FIG. 9. The shoulder portion 52 of the side plate 23 is provided with a plurality of spaced lugs 106 to which the lower edge of the cover plate 105 may be secured as by bolts 1W. A cover retaining strip 168 is welded to the upper portion of the side plate and preferably runs for the full length of the side plate. The retaining strip 108 has a lower spaced edge 109 which, as shown in FIG. 9, overlaps the upper edge of the cover plate 105 to lock the same. Access to the several shaft assemblies is attained by removing the bolts 107 after which the cover plate 165 can be easily removed. A rain gutter 119 may be formed integrally with the cover plate 105.

According to my invention, alignment of the parts presents no particular problems for the reason that the operating shaft 38 is mounted on a single member, the side plate. The side plate is preferably pressed from quarter inch cold rolled steel plate. The cross sectional shape adds rigidity to the plate so that it is fairly easy to assemble the same with the transoms 26 and 27 in such a manner that the shoulder 52 lies in a plane surface. Thus, the fact that the transoms are necessarily made to fairly large tolerances does not affect the coplanar alignment of the shoulder 52, although it will be understood that in the course of mounting the side plate on the transoms, a certain amount of tting may be necessary, and this is accomplished by burning or building up the edges of the transom plates.

Given a coplanar shoulder portion 52, it is fairly easy to mount the end saddles 48 in aligned relationship with each other and to locate the spring anchors 49 so that the saddle plates 65 are in alignment with each other and with end saddles 48.

The bearing sleeves 47 fit rather loosely (FIG. 13) in the end saddles 48 and the saddle plates 65, there being about 1&2 of an inch clearance on either side. The operating shaft 38 is made of cold rolled steel, 11/2 inches in diameter. The overall shaft length is about 50 feet. However, I have found that in spite of this relatively long length, the above mentioned clearance is suliicient to avoid any binding of the shaft in the bearings. In other Words, by mounting the shaft on the side plate, it is possible to obtain alignment with a high degree of accuracy, and furthermore, it is not necessary to use exible couplings between the separate shaft sections.

The whole arrangement can be easily operated manually, due to the counterweight springs and the freedom from shaft binding, and due also to the mechanical advantage provided by the chain and sprocket mechanism.

A socket 111 may be provided in the hand wheel 39, as shown in FIG. 5, to provide for operation by a portable drill motor if desired, or, in the alternative, an electric drive motor may be permanently mounted on the car structure for driving the door operating mechanism.

The arrangement shown and described herein is dupli- 6 cated for the opposite side of the car, and the actuating mechanism therefore is located at the opposite end of the car, as indicated by the hand wheel 39' shown in FIG. l.

To summarize the operation which has been pointed out in detail in connection with the description of the various parts and subassemblies, rotation of the operating shaft 38 in one direction by means of the hand wheel 39 causes all three doors 30 to be elevated into the horizontally extending track section 33, whereas they are lowered into the closed position by rotation in the opposite direction. Each shaft section transmits operating torque only for that short portion of its length that extends between the sprocket 37 and the collar connector 73, a distance of 6 inches or so. The remainder of the shaft, including the couplings 45, is substantially free from torsional stress. Furthermore, load deflection is minimized by locating the end saddles 4S and bearing sleeves closely adjacent the sprockets 37. As a result, the initial alignment is maintained during operation due to minimal delection under. load.

The operating mechanism is easily inspected by removal of the cover plate 1115, and the separate shaft assemblies A, B or C may easily be removed for purposes of bearing replacement, or replacement of the end saddles It@ which are the load carrying saddles. Removal is effected when the doors 3@ are elevated and the counterbalance spring unstressed; the shaft sections are unconpled and the bolts 61 removed after which theparticular shaft assembly is lifted up out of the end saddles.

The saddle and bearing sleeve arrangement not only facilitates removal, but it also provides an improved mounting construction wherein the bearings can accommodate themselves to tolerances and deliections so as to avoid binding.

While only a preferred embodiment of my invention has been shown and described herein, it will be understood that various modications and changes may be made in the construction shown without departing from the spirit of my invention as pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In a railway car having a plurality of vertically sliding doors along one side thereof, the combination of a side plate extending substantially the full length of said car, an operating shaft journaled on said side plate on the external side thereof and comprising a plurality of coupled shaft sections, one for each of said doors,

chain means connecting the top and bottom of each of said doors at each end of each door,

sprocket wheels secured to each end of each shaft section and engaging said chains,

and separate mounting means for each shaft section,

said mounting means including end saddles mount-ed on said side plate for supporting each end of each shaft section at a point adjacent each sprocket wheel, and

a flanged bearing sleeve mounted on each end of each shaft and received within one of said end saddles, the flanges thereof straddling said end saddle to pre-vent longitudinal movement of said bearing sleeve with respect to said end saddle,

said en-d saddles being in the form of notched plates and said bearing sleeves tting loosely therein so that said bearing sieeves can accommodate themselves to manufacturing tolerances' and to shaft deflection.

2. A railway car as claimed in claim 1 in which said side plate is in the form of a shaped strip having an inwardly offset upper portion and a horizontal shoulder, said operating shaft being mounted on said shoulder, and a removable cover plate mounted on said side plate. and enclosing said operating shaft and sprocket wheels.

3. A railway car as claimed in claim 1 in which said bearing sleeves are each provided with a lock strip located between said anges and engaging the upper, edge of the notched plate in which it is received.

4. A railway car as claimed in claim 1 in which an intermediate saddle is provided for supporting a shaft section at its mid-point,

bracket means removably Vsecured to said side plate for confining said shaft section against Vertical movenient, `said shaft section passing through said bracket means,

said intermediate saddle being mounted on said removable bracket means.

5. A railway car as claimed in claim 4 including a counterweight spring surrounding a portion of said shaft section, one end being secured to said shaft at a point adjacent said sprocket Wheel and the other end being secured to saidV bracket.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Bradley Mar. 15, 1892 Moler. May 9, 1933 Blodgett Nov. 16, 1937 Rowe Sept. 30, 1941 Reinhardt Sept. 8, 1953 Baker Nov. 25, 1958 Fimbel Dec. 27, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS Switzerland Dec. 15, 1956 

1. IN A RAILWAY CAR HAVING A PLURALITY OF VERTICALLY SLIDING DOORS ALONG ONE SIDE THEREOF, THE COMBINATION OF A SIDE PLATE EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY THE FULL LENGTH OF SAID CAR, AN OPERATING SHAFT JOURNALED ON SAID SIDE PLATE ON THE EXTERNAL SIDE THEREOF AND COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF COUPLED SHAFT SECTIONS, ONE FOR EACH OF SAID DOORS, CHAIN MEANS CONNECTING THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF EACH OF SAID DOORS AT EACH END OF EACH DOOR, SPROCKET WHEELS SECURED TO EACH END OF EACH SHAFT SECTION AND ENGAGING SAID CHAINS, AND SEPARATE MOUNTING MEANS FOR EACH SHAFT SECTION, SAID MOUNTING MEANS INCLUDING END SADDLES MOUNTED ON SAID SIDE PLATE FOR SUPPORTING EACH END OF EACH SHAFT SECTION AT A POINT ADJACENT EACH SPROCKET WHEEL, AND A FLANGED BEARING SLEEVE MOUNTED ON EACH END OF EACH SHAFT AND RECEIVED WITHIN ONE OF SAID END SADDLES, THE FLANGES THEREOF STRADDLING SAID END SADDLE TO PREVENT LONGITUDINAL MOVEMENT OF SAID BEARING SLEEVE WITH RESPECT TO SAID END SADDLE, SAID END SADDLES BEING IN THE FORM OF NOTCHED PLATES AND SAID BEARING SLEEVES FITTING LOOSELY THEREIN SO THAT SAID BEARING SLEEVES CAN ACCOMMODATE THEMSELVES TO MANUFACTURING TOLERANCES AND TO SHAFT DEFLECTION. 